A lot of people don’t know about the amazing music resource that is Pandora.com. Pandora.com is part of the Music Genome Project, which is basically an attempt to categorize every song ever written, or come as close as possible. This is only complicated by the fact that people keep releasing music. But the guys and girls of the MGP keep hacking away at it, and we the listeners are all the better for it.

This month’s station is based off the starting point of Damien Jurado. The opener song was “Night Out for the Downer” by Damien Jurado. The rest were as follows:

Walk of Shame by Winechuggers

This is a short acoustic track about the morning after. The vocals are comfortable and conversational, portraying a lot of emotion but still down to earth and a little bit wry. It’s got a strong ending, and it’s definitely worth hearing again.

Sunday Drive by The Early November

I was surprised at the quality of this acoustic song. It’s not really slow, because this is an emo band, but it’s a tension-filled, well-written song. The vocals are corralled into a lower range, and in that range they mesh with the guitars beautifully, displaying the talent that got them signed.

Glendale by Bart Davenport

An odd mood of regret permeates this song- neither happy nor sad. The vocals have a unique timbre to them, but they still hit easy on the ears. The whole song seems like I would need to be in a specific mood to enjoy it, though. I gave it a thumbs down.

Chainsaw Preacher (Live) by David Dondero

A mellowed-out blues-style single-note riff leads this song, while half spoken/half sung vocals accompany. I enjoyed this song immensely, as the combination of vocals and guitars was captivating and unique. The disrespect for the ‘correct’ amount of syllables in a line also made this song fun to listen to.

(Tumble) In the Wind (Version 1) by Jackson C. Frank

A soft, fingerpicked guitar accompanies a gravelly, world-weary voice that creates such emotion that you will be singing along by the end of the song. The grainy recording and the ability to hear labored breathing in the background only increases the song’s charm. My favorite of the five tracks.

That’s it till next month. If you have a band to suggest for next month’s Pandora Chronicle, e-mail it to me at IndependentClauses@hotmail.com . Or, go to Pandora and look it up for yourself. Or both!